Vehicle-signal.



S. F. DOUGLASS.

VEHICLE slsNAL APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5. |914.

Patentd ept. 4,1917.

sAMUEL r. notetass, or Pantera :eU noenertfrttrnors, asstenon To VEHICLE stoner. COMPANY, A ooaronairion or arizona.

VEHICLE-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lnatentetl Sept. 4t., 191% To all whom it may cancer/n:

lie it known that I, Saunen F. DoUoLAss, a citizen ot the United States, residing at Prairie du Rocher, in the county ot Rain' dolph and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and `useful Improvements in Vehicle-Signals; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the-invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap pertains to make and use the same.

illy invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle signals'and resides in the provision of a direction indicating device for vehicles, particularly automobiles, and which will operate to indicate to vehicles that the driver contemplates making a turn going` ttor-.ward or stopping.

An important object ot my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive signaling device which is readily operable trom the drivers seat and cheap to install and manuA facture.

.Ahother important object oit' my invention `is' to provid-ea device of the character .scribed which is snnple as to construction,

reliable arid'eflicient in operation, capable of beingfreat-lily attached to vehicles and is cheap to manuia cture. v

'lhe above and additional* onjects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in yie accompanying drawings, descril'ied in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

Figure l. isa.diagrammatic view oi.: the electrical lcircuit employed to operate the signals,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the signal showing' the detail construction thereof,

ably circular and metallic casing 4..which comprises a bottom or hase wall 5 and a circular liange or wall 6 that is termed integral with the eripher v of the wall l\ilounted Within the casing 4 upon the wall 5 and arranged radially about the center of the casing is a plurality of channel shaped reflec` tors 7 that are preferably V-shaped in cross section and arranged with their outer ends engaging the wall (i of the casing and their inner ends in spaced relation to the center of the casing. Suitable electric lamps 8 are mounted within the reflectors and are receivcd by cylindrical shaped bodies 8 that are formed of suitable insulating material and extended through the rear wall 5 of the casing l and through the reflectors 7 and serve to hold the latter in position, andthe wires connect-ing the lamps with a source of current extend through an opening 9 in the center ot' the easing as shown. Mounted upon a circular flange l0 that is arranged within the casing and extends at right angles from the wall (l thereof adjacent but spaced from the outer edge of the wall G is a circular plate or disk il that is provided with a. plurality ol" radially extending arrow slots 1Q therein. lhese arrow slots 12 are arranged to aline and he disposed parallel with the reflectors 7 so that the light from the lamps S is thrown through the arrow slots 1Q.

Mounted within the casing with its periphery in engagement with the inner t'ace ot the wall V ol the casing' is a glass plate 13 that is 1novided with a circular central portion that is colored green and designated l-'l while the rest of. the plate is stained or otherwise suitably colored red. :in angular, circular and threadial ring' l5 is turned upon the wall (S ot the easing and has an angular portion disposed in engagement with the lglass plate '13 adjacent the periphery thereof to secure the plate 13 in position. The glass plate il is translucent and arranged so that the arrow indications Vwill only be visible trom the illumination et the lamps. The center Aportion ot the arrow indications will be shown green and the shaft and hea-d portion red. lhe horizontal arrow slot l2 will indicate the right and lett turning.

As a means for imlividually lighting' the lamps l provide a switch designated 16 as an entirety that is to be arranged upon the steering column oi' the automobile or some other place adjacent to' the drivers seat. This switch 1G comprises a body plate 'i7 having pivoted on the central portion thereof a switch arm 1S that is arrangedto cooperate with a plurality of spaced oona'ble source of current.

ducting Wires 24 connect the wire tact points 19 arranged adjacent the periphery of the plate 17 which is preferably" circular.

With particular reference to Fig. `1 wherein I have illustrated a diagrammatic View of the electrical circuit I employ, the numeral 20 designates a battery or other suit- A conducting wire 21 connects one side of the battery or other suitable source of current 20 with the piv- Qted switch arm 18. A conducting Wire 22 is connected with the other side of the battery and to the signaling device. Eight con 22 With the eight lamps 8 in the signaling device. TWO sets of conducting wires 25 and 26 con neet the lamps 8 with the contact points 19 on the switch 16. If desired, a. pair of signaling devices can be employed and mounted, respectively, at the forward and rear of the vehicle and the Wires 25 and 26 connected up with both signaling devices and the sets of Wires 25 and 26 are shown extende'd beyond their connections for the switch 16 in Fig. 1 for this purpose. When a pair of signaling devices is thus employed a conducting Wire 27, similar to the wire 22 for the signal shown in Fig. l, is extended from the battery to the other signaling device, not shown, and is adapted to be c onnected to the lamp of the last-mentioned signaling device in the same manner as the Wire 22 is connected with the lamps 8 of the device shown in Fig. 1. The contact points 19 and eoperating conducting wires are so arranged that when the switch arm 18 is moved to the right the signal to indicate that the driver is contemplating making a right turn is operated since the lamps are illuminated and the signal displayed. Upon the turning of the switch arm 18 to engage the opposite contact'point the left hand eig- Lasarte nal for indicating that the driver is going to take to left turn is displayed and so on.

It will be readily seen that I have provided a simple and inexpensive direction indicating device which will simultaneously operate signals at the front and rear of a vehicle.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most eiiicient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to when required, Without sacrilicing any of the advantages of my invention, as set forth.

What is claimed is In a vehicle signal, a casing, a plate Within said casing and having a plurality of radial slots therein, means for holding the plate in position, a plurality of elongated reflectors arranged Within the casing and in rear of the plate and alining with the slots in the plate and each of the reflectors consisting of a rear Wall and outwardly diverging side walls, elements extending through one of the Walls of thecasing .and through the rear Walls of the refiectorsv for holding the reflectors in operative position within the casing, and lamps supported :by the elements.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature l in presence of two Witnesses.

y SAMUEL F. DOUGLASS. l/Vitnesses:

IVM. E. Itnfrnnnen,

F. W. Bonnunnnonenn. 

